Something that I do not understand. When Sonny found out that Sollozo and McCluskey were taking Mike to the Luna Azure to talk to him, instead of Sonny having a gun there for mike, why couldn't there be two button men waiting to gun down Sollozo when mike went to the bathroom. Then he wouldn't have to hide in Sicily for 3 years would he? Isn't this plausible?

Because there were also button-man from Sollozzo in the restaurant. So they might not even had a chance to fire one bullet.

Well, Sollozzo had 2 other henchmen with him in the Novel. One of them was in the car while the other was inside the restaurant. But according to the Novel neither of them were armed. So Mike Could have had some of his father's button men to back him.

well Mike would be more in danger as Sollozzo could sense that danger, instead Mike made him relax and let his guard down, also the element of surprise worked well, as no one thought Mike would turn into a cold blooded character.

goodfella4188:

Perhaps you could just rewrite the novel using your own scenario and see how the story progresses from there.

Of course you'd have to do alot of altering of the life of Michael Corleone, since not needing to flee to Italy he never meets/marries/loses Appolonia, thereby returning to America jaded and transformed and ready to seek revenge on whoever has it coming.

He just stays in US, marries Kay and works in some small way for his father, never really reaching the point we see him reach in the story as written.

Oh, sure...Sonny could probably get whacked eventually anyway, leading the way for Michael to head the Family.

But really. To make even this one small adjustment would be altering alot of important detail in the life and transformation of Michael Corleone.

But who knows; perhaps you could out-do Mario Puzo.

Good luck, let us know when the first draft is ready.

AppleOnYa

As Apple said, the over-riding reason to have Michael gun down Sollozzo and McCluskey was to set Michael on his path for life, and therefore to sustain the rest of the novel. But there also practical reasons. Sollozzo had a man in the restaurant, and that guy undoubtedly would have sniffed out any Corleone gunsels waiting inside or outside--that'd be his job. Before Mike went on his mission, Sonny and the capos discuss sending someone else, but that idea is rejected because they quickly conclude that Sollozzo would know whoever was sent.l Even with McCluskey at his side, Sollozzo would have been hyper-careful. Recall that Sonny volunteers to meet with Sollozzo. Hagen says, "Sollozzo wouldn't let you get within a mile of him if he had ten police captains."

They underestimated Michael Corleone, as they mistook him for a bystander, a civilian in the war. Michael was the perfect one to take out McKlusky and Sollozzo.

yeah, he was cut for it. I think there was really no other option then Mike. But, Sollozzo only wanted Mike, he had to calm down his brother. Buttonmen wasn't an option, Sollozzo wouldn't get out of his hide-out (that's what Sonny said: if he shows his head he's dead).

In the novel, what was said about how Sonny found Tom Hagen in the street?

Euhh, that he had something with his eye. His Father was ???, his mother alcoholic. Don't remember it all very well. Time to read the book AGAIN!

BTW Beautiful avatar Meggie. Is that you???

So Tom Hagen was abandoned by his drunk parents?

No its not me, just the same nationality
(Valentina La Paz 's characetr is italian/cuban like me with a dash of Irish)

Tom Hagen's mother had an eye infection and then she became sick and the eye infection supposedly was the cause of her death. Hagen's Father was devastated as he drinked himself to death. Tom Hagen then got an eye infection like his mother and everyone was afraid they could catch it, as he was an outcast, also in the 1920's foster cases weren't really done for males as old as Tom was. Sonny found Tom in like an alley like sleeping in a box, and then took him home. I'm currently re-reading The Godfather. Though don't take my word for the box sleeping thing.

I guess that's the way it was translated into Dutch, MMF.

In the English version, it's something like "If Sollozzo shows one hair on his ass..."

Not quite. I don't remember the book very well. And I knew the meaning of what Sonny said, but I had to translate it in my own words. Wasn't a good job from me?

If you read a version translated to Dutch, I have no idea what it said. If you read an English version, the exact quote is as follows:

(Sonny): "I've got a hundred button men out on the street twenty-four hours a day. If Sollozzo shows one hair on his asshole he's dead."

And that's exactly what I meant. BTW I looked that quote up in my book (Dutch translation). And it is exact the same. Thus, if you translate the Dutch sentence back to english, it's the same as your quote Plawrence.

Apple,

you are right about thisone event changing Mike's life, as Sonny seeing his father kill Fanucci changed his. I guess this all lines up with what Vito Corleone always says, "Every man has but one destiny".

Alright, so Mike has to be the one to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey, just a scenario: what happens if he doesn't, what course does his life take??? And have mercy on me, I'm a newcomer to this story.

The Corleone Family is destroyed as all the other Families side with Sollozzo and wipe out the Corleones.

Goodfella:
In the book, Sonny goes over the alternatives to kill Sollozzo by someone other than Mike. Sonny himself can't do it because the Family cannot risk losing Sonny while the Don is recovering from his gunshot wounds. Fredo is still in shock from his father's shooting. Sollozzo would never let Clemenza or Tessio get close enough to have a sit down. So it has to be Michael who does it. And don't forget, at least 3 times Puzo described Michael as feeling "that delicious chill" inside when defending the honor of his family.

But if someone else had killed Sollozzo instead, there would be no real reason to even have Michael in the story. I say that because this part of the plot is so vital to Michael's character. Without Michael deciding to kill the men who tried to kill Vito Corleone, his life would have been similar to what he was like at Connie's wedding: warm-hearted, quiet, a war hero, and not wanting to have anything to do with his father's business.

Ironically, an idea that Michael himself had suggested could have been modified to solve the problem bloodlessly. The Corleones could have fed the newspapermen on their payroll the story about McCluskey being a dishonest cop mixed up in drugs and murder instead of Michael killing him and Sollozzo. McCluskey was on the take all his life, and the Corleones had all the details because they paid him. The newspapers would have given that story such headlines that the Police Commissioner would have been shamed into providing Vito with an army to protect him, to save further embarrassment. McCluskey and Sollozzo would have been neutralized without any bloodshed. At minimum, McCluskey would have been transferred or suspended pending investigation; with pressure from the Corleone judges, he’d have been indicted for taking bribes. Sollozzo would have been arrested and probably deported as an undesirable alien. With McCluskey alive, the cops would have had no reason to crack down on all Mob activities. There would have been no Five Families War of 1946, leaving it a contest between the Corleones and the Tattaglias—and as we know, Tattaglia was a pimp, alone he could never have outfought Santino. Michael could have married Kay and gone back to college (and we would have had no Godfather Trilogy!).

u shouldnt ask questions like that cuz if that shit were to happen it woulda bin in the movie and the movie woulda been mad different

Originally posted by DonMerghani187:
u shouldnt ask questions like that cuz if that shit were to happen it woulda bin in the movie and the movie woulda been mad different


Hey, I'm just presentin a fuckin' scenario, alright, I don't like to just sit and mindlessly take in the story, I try to work things around in my head. All the other members that have answered to this topic have given what they think would happen had mike not killed sollozzo and Mccluskey. There are a lot of topics on this board asking what if questions. Do you criticize those too??? I'm sorry that you cannot understand the point of me asking this question, to further my understanding of the story. And by the way, we're in the forum for the novel, not the movie.